DRIVING THE DAY: After 40 days and 40 nights, the administration puts the bit in BP’s mouth. In a prelude to the aggressive, highly visible criminal investigation that Playbook told you was coming (subpoenas, etc.), Attorney General Eric Holder today “will survey areas affected by the Gulf oil spill and meet with state Attorneys General and U.S. Attorneys from the region.” Then he’ll hold an avail. at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 local) at the Hale Boggs Federal Building in the Big Easy.

--President Obama will meet at 11:15 a.m. in the Oval Office with the BP Oil Spill Commission Co-Chairs – Bob Graham (former Florida governor and U.S. senator) and William K. Reilly (former EPA administrator). At 12:15 p.m., the President will deliver a statement to press in the Rose Garden.

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--PLAYBOOK FACTS OF LIFE: Counts the days until you see President Obama on a boat in the Gulf.

--THE BIG IDEA – Robert Reich, “Why Obama Should Put BP Under Temporary Receivership”: “This is the only way the public will … be sure the President is ultimately in charge. If the government can take over giant global insurer AIG and the auto giant General Motors and replace their CEOs, in order to keep them financially solvent, it should be able to put BP's North American operations into temporary receivership in order to stop one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.” TPM ... Business Insider

-- SCOOP – Bloomberg’s Alison Fitzgerald: “BP Plc said in permit applications for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico that it was prepared to handle an oil spill more than ten times larger than the one now spewing crude into the waters off the southern United States.” Read the 582-page filing

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Good Tuesday morning – welcome back. TOP STORY – Al-Qaida says in Web posting that #3 official was killed with family; missile strike from U.S. Predator drone -- A U.S. official tells Playbook and other reporters: “Word is spreading in extremist circles of the death of Sheikh Sa'id al-Masri, widely viewed as the number three figure in al-Qaeda. We have strong reason to believe that's true, and that al-Masri was killed recently in Pakistan's tribal areas. In terms of counterterrorism, this would be a big victory. Al-Masri was the group's chief operating officer, with a hand in everything from finances to operational planning. He was also the organization's prime conduit to [Osama bin] Laden and [Ayman al-] Zawahiri.

“He was key to al-Qaeda's command and control. His death would be a major blow to al-Qaeda, which in December lost both its internal and external operations chiefs. Though these terrorists remain extremely dangerous and determined to strike at the United States, the removal from the battlefield of top leaders like al-Masri is further proof that the tribal areas are not quite the safe haven al-Qaeda and its allies thought them to be.”

--N.Y. Daily News tease at top of cover, “Report: U.S. kills Osama’s moneyman.”

-- N.Y. Times’ Eric Schmitt: “The operational leader for Al Qaeda in Afghanistan was killed in an American missile strike in Pakistan’s tribal areas in the last two weeks, according to a statement the group issued late Monday that American officials believe is correct.”

--PUNDIT PREP -- The string of takedowns by U.S. intelligence and military in the past 10 months has been remarkable:

--Aug. 4: Baitullah Mahsud, the #1 wanted man in Pakistan and head of the TTP, was killed in Pakistan.

--Sept 14: Saleh Nabhan, leader of AQ in East Africa, was killed in Somalia. Wanted in the 1998 East Africa U.S. Embassy bombings.

-- Sept 17: Noordin Top, leader of AQ in Southeast Asia (Jemaat Islamiyah), was killed in an Indonesia raid. N.Y POST: “The son of legendary TV newsman Ted Koppel was found dead in a Washington Heights apartment … Andrew Koppel, 40, of Rockaway Park, Queens, was declared dead at around 1:30 a.m. … Koppel … was an attorney for the city Housing Authority … No one has been charged, and the medical examiner has yet to determine a cause of death. … Koppel was the third youngest of Ted Koppel's four children with his wife, Grace Anne. He was their only son. … Andrew Koppel's oldest sister, Andrea, a former CNN correspondent, declined to comment.”

N.Y POST: “The son of legendary TV newsman Ted Koppel was found dead in a Washington Heights apartment … Andrew Koppel, 40, of Rockaway Park, Queens, was declared dead at around 1:30 a.m. … Koppel … was an attorney for the city Housing Authority … No one has been charged, and the medical examiner has yet to determine a cause of death. … Koppel was the third youngest of Ted Koppel's four children with his wife, Grace Anne. He was their only son. … Andrew Koppel's oldest sister, Andrea, a former CNN correspondent, declined to comment.”

RAINING METAPHORS IN ANNE KORNBLUT’S POOL REPORTS from yesterday’s POTUS visit to Abraham Lincoln National [military] Cemetery in Elwood, Ill., about 50 miles south of the Windy City: “A massive thunderstorm opened up just as Obama's Memorial Day ceremony was getting underway. It grew so violent so quickly -- lightning everywhere, very heavy, gusting rains -- that the White House pulled the president out, but not before he went to the microphone and ordered thousands to get to a place of safety. We are holding in the motorcade. … [T]he Obama event is officially canceled, according to Bill Burton, who heroically walked van to van in the downpour to deliver the update. (The WH blackberries have no service here, adding to the logistical hilarity). Obama will instead visit with service families who have crowded onto buses. Obama personally made the decision to warn guests to get off the open field, Burton said. … At about 1:30 PM, the presidential motorcade screeched to a halt on I-55. One of the SUVs had blown a tire. The occupants got out and into another car, we're told. Yes, it's that kind of day.” The president later delivered his planned Memorial Day remarks at Andrews, upon landing at 7:28 p.m.

GALLUP.com, “Both Parties' Favorable Ratings Near Record Lows: Republicans' rating down from March, Democrats' appears to have stabilized … 36% favorable score for the Republican Party is five percentage points above the low established in December 1998 as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Clinton. The Democratic Party's 43% is two points higher than its record low measured in March.” http://bit.ly/9Mt7L6

NETANYAHU CANCELS TODAY’S WHITE HOUSE VISIT – White House “Readout of the President's Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel: ‘This morning between 10:00 and 10:15 AM CDT [while in Chicago], the President spoke by phone with Prime Minister Netanyahu. He said he understood the Prime Minister's decision to return immediately to Israel to deal with today's events. They agreed to reschedule their meeting at the first opportunity. The President expressed deep regret at the loss of life in today's incident, and concern for the wounded, many of whom are being treated in Israeli hospitals. The President also expressed the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances around this morning's tragic events as soon as possible.’”

--“High seas raid deepens Israel isolation” – AP/Jerusalem: “Israel's bloody, bungled takeover of a Gaza-bound Turkish aid vessel is complicating U.S.-led Mideast peace efforts … The pre-dawn commando operation, which killed nine pro-Palestinian activists, was also sure to strengthen Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers at the expense of U.S. allies in the region, key among them Hamas' main rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as Egypt and Jordan. … The Mediterranean bloodshed dealt another blow to the Obama administration's efforts to get peace talks back on track. … The raid tested U.S.-Israeli ties that have not yet fully recovered from their most serious dispute in decades, triggered by Israeli construction plans in disputed east Jerusalem.”

--OVERNIGHT -- U.N. condemns – Reuters: “The U.N. Security Council Tuesday condemned acts that caused the deaths of civilians during an Israeli operation against an aid flotilla heading for Gaza and called for an impartial investigation. In a carefully crafted formal statement adopted after more than 10 hours of closed-door negotiations and which quickly gave rise to conflicting interpretations, the council requested the immediate release of ships and civilians held by Israel.”

--NYT A1, “ Iran Is Said to Have Fuel for 2 Nuclear Weapons,” by David E. Sanger and William J. Broad: “In their last report before the United Nations Security Council votes on sanctions against Iran, international nuclear inspectors declared Monday that Iran has now produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that experts say would be enough, with further enrichment, to make two nuclear weapons. The report … appears likely to bolster the Obama administration’s case for a fourth round of economic sanctions against Iran and further diminish its interest in a deal, recently revived by Turkey and Brazil, in which Iran would send a portion of its nuclear stockpile out of the country.”

TOP TALKER -- “ House, Senate take long look at lessons of ‘The Big Short,’ by POLITICO’s Marin Cogan: “In the midst of a floor speech on regulatory reform, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) interrupted himself for a sort of commercial announcement. ‘I’m going to plug a book: Michael Lewis’s “The Big Short.”’ While debating changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) told his colleagues: ‘Read this new book, “The Big Short.”’ Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was decrying Republican obstructionism on the floor when he said, ‘I recommend everyone within the sound of my voice to read the book.’ Politicians have been known to latch onto books -- Amity Shlaes’s ‘The Forgotten Man’ was a must-read among Republicans last year during the bailouts -- but few works have shaped a legislative debate quite like Lewis’s story about investors who made a killing by betting on the housing crash. For a lot of Democrats — and even some Republicans — the book has created a kind of defining counter-narrative of the economic collapse. And it’s given Lewis rock star status among some on Capitol Hill. In the fall, Lewis met with House Republicans to discuss the financial crisis. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) invited Lewis to speak to the House Democratic Caucus in May. …

“Back home in Berkeley, Calif., Lewis started getting calls from Hill staffers who wanted his insights on the financial meltdown and the best way to prevent another one. … ‘The Big Short’ tells the story of the economic meltdown through the eyes of a handful of investors who were smart enough to see the subprime mortgage crisis coming -- and greedy enough to cash in on it. As lawmakers navigate the mind-numbing terrain of credit default swaps and interest-only, negative-amortizing, adjustable subprime mortgages, Lewis’s book gives them a straightforward way to think and talk about it all. ‘The Big Short’ has been mentioned at least 15 times on the Senate floor and in press conferences and committee hearings. … Lewis said he never wanted to be the go-to expert on the crisis. ‘When senators are reading your book, it reaffirms your faith in society, on the one hand,’ he said, ‘and, on the other hand, it makes you nervous, because I don’t think of myself as advising people who are actually going to change things.’”

THE VICE PRESIDENT’S DAY: In the morning, the Vice President will travel to New York. At 12:30 PM, the Vice President will attend an event for Representative John Hall in Bedford, New York. … At 6:30 PM, the Vice President will attend an event for the campaign of Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden in New York City.”

TECHWATCH – AP: “Apple Inc. says that iPad sales have topped 2 million since its launch almost two months ago. This past weekend, Apple began selling iPads in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.”

MEDIA WATCH – Bloomberg Businessweek, “Lakers, Celtics in NBA Finals Means a Victory for TV Ratings,” by Erik Matuszewski: “With 32 of a possible 63 titles between them, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are the most successful franchises in National Basketball Association history. They’re also a boon to television ratings. When the Lakers and Celtics meet for another championship in this year’s NBA Finals starting in two days, Walt Disney Co.’s ABC may emerge a winner.”

BUSINESS BURST -- FT A1, “Google ditches Windows on security concerns,” by David Gelles and Richard Waters: “Google is phasing out the internal use of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows operating system because of security concerns, according to several Google employees. The directive to move to other operating systems began in earnest in January, after Google’s Chinese operations were hacked, and could effectively end the use of Windows at Google, which employs more than 10,000 workers internationally. ... New hires are now given the option of using Apple’s Mac computers or PCs running the Linux operating system.”

--NBA: The NBA Finals begin Thursday night in Los Angeles with the Lakers and Celtics meeting in the championship series for the twelfth time. The Celtics lead the all-time series, 9-2.

--WaPo D1, “ Nats’ Stephen Strasburg will debut in big leagues June 8,” by Adam Kilgore: “For everyone -- his fans, his soon-to-be Nationals teammates and, perhaps most of all, Stephen Strasburg himself -- the wait is nearly over. Strasburg, the phenom regarded as maybe the best pitching prospect of all time, will make his ravenously anticipated major league debut on June 8 at Nationals Park against the Pittsburgh Pirates.”

--E-MAIL DU JOUR, from Michael Morrell: “20 starts in 2010 with seats 10 @ home = 20,000 more seats per game sold @ average of $75 including food, beer, etc. = 200,000 x $75 = $15 million so his four year K is paid for up front with three years to go. Good business. Now sign Bryce Harper and Nats will have #1 battery in baseball.”

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Authors:

About The Author

Mike Allen is the chief White House correspondent for POLITICO. He comes to us from Time magazine where he was their White House correspondent. Prior to that, Allen spent six years at The Washington Post, where he covered President Bush's first term, Capitol Hill, campaign finance, and the Bush, Gore and Bradley campaigns of 2000. Before turning to national politics, he covered schools and local governments in rural counties outside Fredericksburg, Va., for The Free Lance-Star, then wrote about Doug Wilder, Oliver North, Chuck Robb and the Bobbitts for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he nurtured police sources on overnight ride-alongs through housing projects. Allen also covered Mayor Giuliani, the Connecticut statehouse and the wacky rich of Greenwich for The New York Times. Before moving to The Times, he did stints in the Richmond and Alexandria bureaus of The Washington Post. Allen grew up in Orange County, Calif., and has a B.A. from Washington and Lee University, where he majored in politics and journalism.